It's too late to turn back now.

That's a stray rose petal, not somebody's blood, but you have to look really close to be sure. Today I have made progress. I still have a long way to go, but it's progress. I thought I would get so many things done over break. I got a fraction of them done. But that's okay, because now I have motivation. I am triaging. Checking things off the proverbial list.

I did manage to get some housepainting done over the past few weeks, and I finished my third book of poems. Shouldn't that be enough, after all? If you'd like a peek at some of the new manuscript, check out this feature at Escape into Life, where the editors paired my poems with some bright, compelling artwork.

Super grateful that Saint Monica made Michael Meyerhofer's No Tell Best Books of 2011 list, and Kyle Minor was so kind to mention Saint Monica here.

Now I have to get ready to call it a day and pick the kids up from school. I was both sad and gleeful to send them back today.

I hope this new year brings new poems.